Hospitals On The Mend

Tuesday, December 11th 2007, 5:15 pm

By: News On 6

Local hospitals are on the mend after some lost power during the ice storm. The News On 6â€™s Steve Berg went to Saint John Medical Center to check up on their status. Nurse Susan Delleger has a brighter outlook now than she did during the power outage.

"Our lights were mostly off down here, we had a few of the backup lights. To go upstairs, we had to walk around with flashlights,â€ said Delleger.

And she was there well after dark.

"I was probably here about 12, 13, 14 hours. I think the rest of the staff was too," said Delleger. "Right back here, bright and early again today."

Emergency Room Director Jana Hallman says she has never seen anything like this.

"We've gone on and off generator before with electrical outages, usually related to thunderstorms, those types of things. Certainly this is the longest that we've ever been on generator power and certainly the most significant event for us as a hospital," said Hallman.

Jana Hallman has worked at St. John for 27 years. And more than ever, hospitals rely on machines that rely on electricity, like robotic surgeries, some of which they had scheduled on Monday.

"We elected not to do that, because every time there's even a blink in the electricity, the robot will reset itself," said Hallman.

Surprisingly, but thankfully, they have not seen much increase in patients because of the ice, allowing them to catch up from the blackout.

Watch the video: Hospitals Recovering From The Storm